1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabric or garment, and which includes an integrated infrastructure for monitoring the vital signs of infants.
2. Background of the Art
Efforts have been made previously to create fabrics and garments which incorporate electrodes for monitoring the condition of the wearer, such as EKG, or conductive fibers for electromagnetic screening. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,545 to Lowe and U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,504 to Dordevic disclose fabrics including conductive fibers for electromagnetic screening and for protecting a wearer from magnetic radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,572 to Granek et al. discloses a garment for delivering and receiving electric impulses which can include a conductive medium knitted or woven into the cloth, wires sewn onto the cloth or conducting cloth sewn onto nonconducting cloth.
However, these patents fail to disclose either a woven or knitted fabric which incorporates information infrastructure component in the form of a textile fiber which can include an electrical conductive component of the fabric for collecting or monitoring physical or vital signs of a wearer of the fabric and which may be worn and washed in the same manner as conventional clothing.
A need, therefore, exists for a fabric having an integrated information infrastructure which can be incorporated or fashioned into a wearable garment and which includes a flexible infrastructure for collecting, processing, transmitting and receiving information concerning a wearer of the garment. It is to the provision of such a fabric or garment with an integrated information infrastructure to which the present invention is one aspect directed.
A problem affecting infants is known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is generally the death of an infant, usually under one year old, that is unexplained by any prior medical diagnosis, postmortem examination or other factors. SIDS is the leading cause of post-neonatal mortality in the United States, accounting for almost 40% of deaths in infants from 1 month to 1 year of age. Approximately 7 of every 10,000 live born infants in the United States succumb to SIDS. Infants that are classified to have a higher risk of the likelihood of SIDS include premature infants, siblings of SIDS victims and infants who have experienced apparent life-threatening episodes, e.g., turning blue and/or stoppage of respiration.
To detect problems that can lead to SIDS, special home cardiorespiratory monitors can be used to receive data about the infant. The data is obtained at the infant""s home by a home cardiorespiratory monitor that is attached to the infant and records the infant""s heart rate and chest wall movement. The heart rate and breathing rate can be monitored by simple cardiorespiratory sensors (e.g., EKG) attached to the infant. The monitor continuously records data about the infant""s heart rate and breathing. If certain preset parameters for apnea and/or bradycardia are violated, the monitor sets out an alarm to warn the caregiver of the problem and the monitor will record the EKG, trend event of the heart rate and the respiratory waveform. The recorded data can be downloaded by telephone modem to a specialized apnea center at a hospital in order to verify the event. The data can then be utilized by specialist physicians who receive the data from the monitors to diagnose the cause of the episode that caused the breathing or heart to stop or slow to abnormal levels. The potential problems include heart blocks, arrhythmias, and seizures which are difficult for a primary care physician to detect.
A problem with home cardiorespiratory monitors is that even when available they are not used. There are three major causes for the non-use of the cardiorespiratory monitors. First, is that most of the electrodes used to record the vital signs are rubberized electrode patches that are placed on the infant""s chest and are held in place by VELCRO belts applied over the patches. These VELCRO belts are difficult to apply. If not applied properly, the belt and/or electrodes irritate the infant""s skin (sometimes to the point of blistering and even bleeding). Second, they can also trigger false alarms. For these reasons, the parents may stop using the equipment. Lastly, caregivers and parents are reluctant to use the monitor because they believe that the protruding wires that go from the sensors on the body to the monitoring equipment can wrap around the neck of the infant if the infant rolls over.
Therefore, there exists a need for a device that overcomes the problems with using VELCRO belts to hold the sensors in place on the infants for monitoring them using cardiorespiratory monitors to prevent SIDS.
It is to the provision of such a fabric or garment to meet the two needs to which the present invention is one aspect directed.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a garment for infants comprising a comfort component serving as a base, a plurality of signal transmission paths integrated within the comfort component, and at least one interface that provides a transmission path between the information infrastructure component that is part of the garment and the external device.
In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a garment for infants comprising a comfort component serving as a base, a form-fitting component to provide a xe2x80x98form fitxe2x80x99 to the wearer, a plurality of signal transmission paths integrated within the comfort component and at least one interface that provides a transmission path between the information infrastructure component that is part of the garment and the external device. In additional embodiments, this garment may be made up of an additional static dissipating component and with or without the form-fitting component (the comfort component and plurality of signal paths will be required).
In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a fabric comprising a comfort component, an information infrastructure component integrated within the comfort component, and at least one interface that provides a transmission path between the information infrastructure component and an external device.
In any of the above embodiments, the garments can further comprise means for adjusting the size of the garment, means for easily attaching and detaching sensors and means for easily putting on and taking off the garment.